The blog contains articles by the author which appear in various newspapers in Kashmir and are also available on the website: www.kashmirfirst.com

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Indo-Pak Conflict and Kashmir

(Why
should the fate of Kashmiris be tied up with the establishment of Indo-Pak
friendship?)

There
are some very common refrains in regard to the solving of the most intractable
and the longest pending political problem of Kashmir. In the global context, it
is the necessity for a peaceful dialogue between the two neighbouring
countries, India and Pakistan, to solve all outstanding issues including
Kashmir. In the Indian context, Kashmir is no issue as it is settled as an
integral part of the Union of India. The only issue for them is to recover the
parts of the state illegally occupied by Pakistan and China. For Pakistanis,
Kashmir is the core issue and according to them, without its settlement, there
can be no peace in the sub-continent.

For
last 70 years the two newly created countries of India and Pakistan have been
in a continuous state of conflict. The most glaring example of conflict is in
Kashmir. The Line of Control between the two countries is these days “Hot” with
almost daily exchanges of artillery and other fire. There are daily casualties
of both the soldiers and the civilians on the two sides of the line. It is
totally senseless violence, and in fact, a very tragic story for the
sub-continent. If one goes deeper in reality, Kashmir is only the symptom and
the disease is different. The real conflict is ideological or rather it is a
religious conflict. India is a Hindu country and Pakistan is a Muslim country
and both seem to have no meeting ground in the present context because of the
past. There is absolute basic mistrust of each other. The governments on two
sides survive on this mistrust. Unfortunately, the reins of power on both sides
are with the elite which survive by keeping teeming millions down under. On the
Indian side it is the 5% Brahmin elite which controls everything. On the
Pakistani side it is the feudal landlords who have a stranglehold. The most
common refrain on this side is the Hindutva Nationalism. The objective is to
make India a Hindu Rashtra. There is absolute mistrust and hatred of Pakistan. On
the other side, it is the universal Jehad to uphold the Islamic principles. On this
side we see the Trishul wielding RSS workers in their traditional knickers. On
the other side there is abundance of suicide bombers blasting everything coming
in their way.

Next
in line is Kashmir which has somehow got entangled in this perennial Indo-Pak
conflict. However, the moot point is why should the fate of Kashmiris be made a
hostage to Indo-Pak friendship? Kashmir in the entire sub-continent has
probably the longest history as an independent sovereign Kingdom from the
ancient times. Many ancient chronicles of Greeks, Arabs and Chinese mention
Kashmir as a Kingdom in the Himalayan Mountains. Till twelfth century it was a
Hindu Kingdom. Then Islam as a religion was brought here by religious preachers
and not by conquerors. The religion appealed to the local population so much
that all except the 2% ruling elite converted to Islam and with the conversion
of the last ruler Rincin Shah, it became a Muslim State. Rincin Shah after
conversion took the name of Sadaruddin and became the first Muslim King of
Kashmir. Till sixteenth century it remained an independent sovereign kingdom
and then the Mughal King Akbar annexed it through treachery to the Mughal
Empire. After that there was continuous slavery of Afghans, Sikhs and Dogras
for the Kashmiris. A movement for the emancipation from the centuries of
bondage and slavery rose in Kashmir in early thirties of the last century. In
1947 when Kashmiris were nearing their goal of freedom, because of their
misfortune and the ineptitude of their leaders, they got entangled in the
ideological conflict of the sub-continent. Rather they were got enmeshed in
this mess by the departing British for their own long term strategic reasons.
With the change in the geo-political equations in the South Asian Region Kashmir
is getting more and more entangled in a larger political mess because of its so
called strategic location. Most of the claimants talk about its strategic
location. There is hardly anyone interested in the fate of the people who have
been living here for thousands of years!

The
“Burhan Uprising” which was virtually a peaceful mass revolution throughout the
length and the breadth of the valley, triggered by the killing of a militant
freedom fighter, has sent a clear and direct message from Kashmir to all over
the world! Kashmiris want their birthright to be restored to them. They want to
live a life of dignity and honour. The slogan is simple, “Azadi”, the Freedom!
Even though after a long time the world has woken up from a deep slumber, yet
the response has not been as it should have been. Again the same dithering and
the same refrain of dialogue between the two claimants of the piece of “real
estate” rather than restoring the rights of the subjugated people. Within
India, the common refrain from well-wishers is unconditional dialogue among all
the stakeholders instead of a straight demand for taking care of the real
stakeholders, the Kashmiris, suffering for the last 70 years!

Apart
from untying Kashmir from various strings like the Indo-Pak relations, one has
to take notice of a new factor, the new emerging young leadership in Kashmir,
which has made clear to one all that they cannot be taken for granted. They
cannot also be held hostage to Indo-Pak friendship which may never materialise
even in their lifetime! Two generations of Kashmiris have passed away waiting for
the same. The present generation born and brought up in the conflict of
nineties of the last century has seen the worst and has given the maximum
sacrifices. It is they who need to be spoken to and not the so called “traditional”
leaders of the so called various “streams”. Will someone take the initiative?
Only on that depends the return of real peace and normalcy!